You Never Listen to a Word I Say!
by Artemis Nox
Summary: Deidara and Tenten are once again having an arguement, but while doing so their two-year-old son runs off into a maze of haphazardly stacked boxes! Can they work together to find him?


**I envision Deidara and Tenten as a couple that tends to fight alot-mainly over petty things-so I wrote about one. I tried to keep any insside joke out so that I wouldn't confuse anyone, but I may have failed. Just to warn you. Please enjoy (and review)!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_, or any of its associations.**

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"You never listen to a word I say!"

"Who would want to when all you do is scream!"

"I'm trying my best to remain calm here, the least you could do is pretend you care!"

"Even pretending is too much effort." Tenten grunted in frustration at that remark, and clenched her fists in a fruitless attempt to restrain her anger from showing through. Deidara looked down on her with a bored look in his eyes, signaling that he was tired of listening to her talk already. He could feel a headache coming on.

"I'm so sick of you!"

"Then why don't you just leave again, hmmm?" Any composure that Tenten had regained left her at that moment. She snapped, and their argument continued on, only increasing in intensity. In the back of her mind, the brown-eyed woman kept cursing to herself—cursing the fact that she ever came back in the first place. Not just the last time, but the very first time she had ever left him; she never fully understood why she had come back. She would leave and even if she told herself it was for good, she came running into his arms whenever she got the chance. It was only the most recent attempt when she had a reason to return, and even then it was not necessary for her to. She was perfectly capable of taking care of a child herself—she practically was already—so being pregnant should not have driven her back into this cursed house. If she had stayed away, she would not be screaming at the top of her lungs at her so-called "husband," and her innocent two-year-old son would not have to witness it all. The angel God had loaned to her-named Reioshi—sat in a corner by himself, watching his parents fight.

They argued often and it saddened him to see them this way. Even though there were times when they would all laugh and be happy together as a family, it was the times like this one that tended to stand out to him most. Though his mind is still developing, he knew the things he liked and did not like. He never liked it when his parents got loud with each other. He could just feel that it was not right; it was not a good thing to happen between them. He was so excited to explore their new house with all of the big brown box things to climb onto, but then the atmosphere grew heavy, and he could not build up the proper enthusiasm. Reioshi looked up and noticed that his father was trying to walk away. Things always ended up bad if that happened. He wanted to be nowhere near them when it did. His mother nearly always ended up crying, and that was not natural. So he stood up and ran through the nearest doorway, knocking over an empty box in his haste.

Deidara heard a thump and looked around, searching for the source of the noise. No, he was just looking for a distraction in general. This woman always wanted his attention, his opinion, his advice—she just wanted him to look at her nonstop. Enough is enough! He wanted some space, he needs to breathe, but the moment he looks away she starts screaming and yelling at him, convinced that he does not "love her" anymore. Did he ever love her in the first place? True, he had some very powerful feelings for her, but could it be considered love when he was so frustrated with her all the time? She was annoying and weak—emotionally anyway. She sure could sting him with a slap when she felt like it. But she never had a good hold on her emotions, and often looked to him for help. It was exhausting, especially considering that he did not know much about those kinds of feelings in the first place. Every time she tells him that she loves him, Deidara cannot be sure that he feels the same. And all of the fights were starting to annoy him as well. Which is why he was looking for a way out. "Where's my son?"

"Your son..." Tenten growled, but turned around to look anyway. "Not in here, why does it matter?"

"In a house filled with unstably staked heavy boxes, and a wandering two-year-old toddler, it's only natural to worry. Especially if you just heard something fall over."

Tenten cringed at the fact that she had not heard anything fall over at all, and turned from Deidara to go look for _her_ son. Deidara cocked his head, thinking to himself, _She's leaving the fight first? How unusual, man did I get lucky today._ Tenten had just reached the other room when the sound of anther box falling over reached her ears.

Rei had pushed over a box full of pillows, and watched them spill out. He crawled in to mass of softness, forgetting all of his previous worries. The cushiony goodness comforted his little body, and he quickly fell asleep. His dreams were a blur, but when he would wake up, he would distinctly remember his mother's smile.

Tenten was growing frantic. She heard nothing else falling over, meaning that her son had to have been immobilized. She called out to him, hoping that he had not been crushed by the last thud. She was running frantically from room to room, hoping that she would find him in one piece. "Rei-kun!" she cried.

Deidara watched, amused, as his wife ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. "You'll never find him that way. We should look for him calmly, so that we actually notice things."

"We? You are not helping at all whatsoever!"

"Alright, I'll help." Deidara began to walk towards a room Tenten had run through twice already. "Since you asked so nicely," he muttered. And so, they searched "together" as a team; Tenten running around everywhere, and Deidara following behind her, checking each room a bit more thoroughly. Of course, Tenten would snap at Deidara every time she came across him, still furious at whatever. It annoyed Deidara to the point where he felt like just walking out—as she always did when he annoyed her—and never coming back.

"Why are you useless?"

Grinding his teeth together did nothing to keep him from retaliating. "I'm useless? All you're doing is running in circles, while I'M the one looking for my son!"

"Well, maybe if you were a better father, he wouldn't have run in the first place."

"He ran because we were arguing. Which you started by the way, with all of your screaming and crying over nothing. You make me sick! If had known you were so immature, I definitely have kept my distance. All you do is annoy me." Deidara waited for her to make some snide remark, but she did not. He turned to look at her, and saw her staring intently at the floor. She appeared to be fighting back tears. Deidara sighed, knowing that he had gone too far this time.

"You're right."

_This is definitely new_, Deidara thought to himself. _She's never—not once—said that I have been right. Ever._

"I don't even remember what I was so upset about this time. It was that trivial. I don't think I've ever had any real reason to start arguing with you, but lately...it's been the only way to get you to look at me."

"What are you talking about?"

"These days you've just been so bored with me-I can just tell. So I figure that if I start a few fights and get really loud, you'll remember that I'm here. But all I've done is annoy you. And now look where it's gotten me. I've scared away my sin, and he's probably lying somewhere—crushed to death by a box filled with some junk I was holding onto for no reason."

"Don't talk like that. He's fine."

Tenten sighed. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For being so childish. But what did you expect? You _did_ steal away my teenage years..."

"I did not! And...I'm sorry too. For being a jerk and stuff..."

"It's alright. You're always like that."

"If you say so... Did we check this room yet?"

"Only about five times. Why?"

"'Cause he's right there." Deidara pointed to a mass of pillows, with the sleeping boy nearly hidden amongst them. It took all of his remaining energy to keep his wife from crushing their son with a deadly hug and to successfully get him into bed without waking him.

The couple refrained from having an argument like that ever again, in order to protect their son. Any arguments they did have were petty and not serious. The boy Reioshi would not remember much of his childhood as he grew older, but one thing that would distinctly stand out to him, was his mother's smile.

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**A/N: So how was it? Feel free to tell me what you think!**


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